Genesect has finally been banned from OU and the decision of making Hydreigon BL have stopped and he can now destroy OU again. Breloom might be a problem but with every standard team having it checked, Hydreigon is a deadly threat again. Hydreigon has that amazing 105 / 125 / 98 attacking stats and a crazy large movepool. Most of it standard movesets hit 11/17 types super-effectively, even better when electric and poison types are almost never used. STAB Dark Pulse has made it even better letting it being able to counter Psychics with out being heavily dented because of its immunity. Levitate grants it a awesome immunity to entry hazards and omnipresent move earthquake. Not only that, but no wall can wall Hydreigon because of the amazing coverage.

Hydreigon does have its flaws. While having great movepool and good stats to abuse it, it has that bad speed, letting it be outsped by a majority of threats. No speed boosting moves makes this even worse and has those bad boosting moves like Work Up and the unreliable Charge Beam. Hydreigon has also lost a lot of its power through its sad dark typing which gives it a weakness to fighting type moves. However, most of these flaws can be overcome with great team support, its better as a wall breaker. I'd say it would get a A- on its test....

Well, lets talk about its moves it can use. Earthquake / Earth Power is amazing giving a way to kill its counter, same with Fire Blast. Superpower / Focus Blast lets it also muscle its way past steels too. Next we have its two STAB moves. Draco Meteor demolishes everything while Dark Pulse can dent all. Hydreigon has a 4 moveslot so its best not to waste a slot for one of its crappy boosting moves, if you want it to sweep, stick with Baton Pass. Also, it has access to some crazy powerful moves such as Head Smash which will be like hell if it tries to hold a shell bell. However STAB Draco Meteor is more prefered same with Dark Pulse.

I've used Hydreigon quite a bit back in the olden days of BW1, and I LOVED Scarf Hyd, and I'd say Sub Hydreigon is probably the second best set. On Scarf, Dark Pulse hits almost nothing tbh. Your best bet is Draco Meteor/U-turn/Fire Blast/Focus Blast or Earth Power.

OP is lacking Sub Hydreigon which, as Porii said, is an amazing set. I used it during BW1 and if you managed to get Chansey/Blissey out of the way, the opponent usually had to lose a poke taking out the sub.

I totally liked Sub Hydreigon in BW2 since it was a great counter to VolTurn; between Fire Blast/Rain boosted Surf(what I used)/dragon pulse/focus blast, it easily beat the annoying, omnipotent sand volturn.
Counters for this set are Chansey/Blissey as CSC mentioned, but a Jellicent with some SpDef investment also stalls out Hydreigon if you lack Roost

So I read the Smog and I gave the Tailwind Reshiram + Kyruem-W core a go in Ubers and not only was it super fun, but it was practical. With that in mind, I decided to try the same strategy in OU and see if it would work. Of course no Pokemon in OU had Reshiram's typing and the pool of Tailwind Dragons are almost exclusively Physical Dragon/Flying-types. There were the Lati but the Pursuit weakness and lack of ways to deal with Steel-types was just not suitable for a Dragon that needs to be switching in and out while minimizing opponent's chances to set-up. But there was one Pokemon that caught my eye:
Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Tailwind
- Roost

Apparently Hydreigon got Tailwind in BW2 and to be honest, Hydreigon is almost everything I was looking for in a Tailwind user and imo it is the most reliable user of Tailwind around. Yeah Tornadus has Prankster but it can't switch in even half as often as Hydreigon. But as I was saying, Hydreigon works because there are so few things in this game that look at Hydreigon and go "I can switch into that" or "I can set up on that" and it becomes more of a "okay, what do I want to sack" situation.

To start: Modest Life Orb Draco Meteor; the end. Fire Blast for coverage is far better than what Latios can provide even if he wasn't Pursuit weak. Once Tailwind is up, just...forget your everything that could revenge Hydreigon without priority because it's not going to; not even Ditto can do anything. Probably the best thing about that coverage on Hydreigon is that the only Pokemon that really could switch in safely, bar the pink blobs, are Heatran and Tyranitar and even they are KOed by 2 Full-power Draco Meteors, if they're not running a defensive spread, which can easily be arranged by forcing them out with a switch after the first one.

Of course being at -2 from Draco opens some doors for some undesirable conditions but when Tailwind's up, Hydreigon's team is still at a major advantage as checks for some Pokemon become full counters now that they can out-pace them and for the most part it's all up to you about what you run with Hydreigon. Landorus and Jirachi can now curb-stomp the Base 108+s that would normally laugh at them, Mamoswine becomes terrifying, and Dragonite, who also gets Tailwind, becomes a borderline superhero. Those are just some examples of things that benefit greatly from Tailwind even for just 2 turns. I personally run Kyurem as Hydreigon's offensive partner for that deliciously potent Double Draco core with Earth Power & Focus Blast covering everything Hydreigon doesn't, including Rain Steels. (The strategy transferred over from it's Uber counterpart extremely well btw. I've been using it for almost a week now while being pretty high on the ladder.)

This set is just a blast to use and it works perfectly in that weird way that Agilitygross worked in 4th Gen but Tailwind makes it a team player.
Superpower can be used over Roost to deal with blobs, Heatran, and Tyranitar but losing that recovery is a hefty price.

Hi, I run an effective dark monotype team and I love using hydreigon! He has an incredible movepool and rather reasonable bulk. I am however fed up with having to make up for his rather average speed with choice scarf. What is the point of having that huge mnovepool if you are just locked into one? So i discovered that murkrow with prankster is a boss. With tailwind, hydreigon now can sweep effectivly. I just thought to mention this to give any one any ideas.

I'm using him as a late game sweeper, and it's working quite right with the Special set, replacing Focus Blast with Superpower in case I need some physical presence against things like Chansey. I based my (first *blushes*) team on him since there's not much bulkiness going around, or at least there's less than before, and with the right support he is able to tear some holes apart with ease.

From my experience, I might add Gyarados as a check as it's bulky variant resist most of Hydreigon's attacks quite well, except for the rare Charge Beam at Special sets, while its rock moves at Physical sets are not shown that frequently and receives Intimidate.

Wow i had no idea that Hydreigon might have been sent to BL. Well its good to know he'll be staying :). Some people tend to underestimate Hydreigon a lot. I've had quite a number of people switch in Scizor on me thinking I cannot kill it.... he's a diverse pokemon that is extremely hard to fight at times. I hope that people will start to use him more often.. where's the love for the hydra at man?!

The set that I used is a white herb set. Sometimes it sucks but in key moments its extremely hard to fight a Hydreigon that can launch another Draco Meteor AND have luxury to switch up moves (Something specs can't do, though at the cost of less overall power). It also has a small perk of bluffing the choice item as well. Feel free to try it:

yes this the mixed set but more focused on the special part. I use hasty over naive as physical attacks will kill me almost anyway. The extra special defence allows me to take some weak special attacks and hit back.

Switch in on something that cannot hurt you and hit the incomming pokemon hard and then run away when the revenge killer commes in.
One thing with this set is that he don't live long enough to get more then 2 switch inns as the damage from stealth rocks and life orb wears you down pritty fast.

quite fun and underused pokemon so let's hope he can see the daylight once more.

yes this the mixed set but more focused on the special part. I use hasty over naive as physical attacks will kill me almost anyway. The extra special defence allows me to take some weak special attacks and hit back.

Switch in on something that cannot hurt you and hit the incomming pokemon hard and then run away when the revenge killer commes in.
One thing with this set is that he don't live long enough to get more then 2 switch inns as the damage from stealth rocks and life orb wears you down pritty fast.

quite fun and underused pokemon so let's hope he can see the daylight once more.

This set can bluff a choice set perfectly, while still netting some very unsuspecting KOs against Heatran and Blissey with just two Superpowers, and with Stealth Rock support it's even less. The best Pokemon to catch off guard is specially defensive T-Tar, because he is destroyed by Superpower. Although Hydreigon misses the power against non super effective pokes, being able to catch very annoying and dangerous Pokemon like Blissey, T-Tar and Heatran who can wall an entire team specially defensively, while the latter can also cause offensive pressure as well. Also, E Belt lacks recoil so Roost is unneeded. I prefer a +SpA nature over a positive speed nature, because the only thing I can really think of out speeding with a +Spe nature, is a Jolly Haxorus (which aren't very common anyway) and speed tying other +Spe Hydreigon, however relying on a speed tie isn't a very good idea anyway. The one key thing that I can see why running a +Spe nature would be more beneficial, is so you can outpace +Atk DD Salamence. Although it makes more since to run a +Atk nature on a Mence, I've seen so many +Spe DD Salamence out there that it would out speed you anyway.

OP is lacking Sub Hydreigon which, as Porii said, is an amazing set. I used it during BW1 and if you managed to get Chansey/Blissey out of the way, the opponent usually had to lose a poke taking out the sub.

EDIT: Hydreigon gets Outrage, so I see no reason to use Dragon Rush in the CB set

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While Mix Hydreigon is great, Sub Hydreigon is still an amazing Pokemon. The coverage this set gets is pretty amazing and Substitute makes prediction much simpler. Focus Blast is nice for really hitting Tyranitar hard, but Earth Power is better for Heatran. Earthquake can also be used if you want mixed capabilities, and it makes Hydreigon a good CM rachi check while still hitting Tyranitar/Heatran hard.

This set can bluff a choice set perfectly, while still netting some very unsuspecting KOs against Heatran and Blissey with just two Superpowers, and with Stealth Rock support it's even less. The best Pokemon to catch off guard is specially defensive T-Tar, because he is destroyed by Superpower. Although Hydreigon misses the power against non super effective pokes, being able to catch very annoying and dangerous Pokemon like Blissey, T-Tar and Heatran who can wall an entire team specially defensively, while the latter can also cause offensive pressure as well. Also, E Belt lacks recoil so Roost is unneeded. I prefer a +SpA nature over a positive speed nature, because the only thing I can really think of out speeding with a +Spe nature, is a Jolly Haxorus (which aren't very common anyway) and speed tying other +Spe Hydreigon, however relying on a speed tie isn't a very good idea anyway. The one key thing that I can see why running a +Spe nature would be more beneficial, is so you can outpace +Atk DD Salamence. Although it makes more since to run a +Atk nature on a Mence, I've seen so many +Spe DD Salamence out there that it would out speed you anyway.

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Yea the +spd nature is for outspeeding other dragons that run a +atk/sp.atk nature and life orb is used for giving me some of the power that I lost by using a +spd nature. But so far I've seen more +atk natures then +spd on the most hard hitting stuff, so you can outspeed them and hit hard before they can react. But I'll try expert belt and se how it work =)

Use him exactly like this, except Dark Pulse is a must for my team, but I switch between Fire Blast / Earth Power, depending on the day. I prefer FB to deal with unsuspecting Scizors (they like to switch in on mine), as well as making Ferro/Forry lifes shorter while taking advantage of Sun Teams, but if I'm facing too many Rainy Teams, or feeling terribly unlucky, I switch into EP. I should try Focus Blast / Earthquake.

Other nice thing to mention is that Expert Belt may fool the opposition into thinking we're running a Choice Set, since it KOs quite easily with SE moves and Hydreigon must switch out frequently until it's late game :9

This set can bluff a choice set perfectly, while still netting some very unsuspecting KOs against Heatran and Blissey with just two Superpowers, and with Stealth Rock support it's even less. The best Pokemon to catch off guard is specially defensive T-Tar, because he is destroyed by Superpower. Although Hydreigon misses the power against non super effective pokes, being able to catch very annoying and dangerous Pokemon like Blissey, T-Tar and Heatran who can wall an entire team specially defensively, while the latter can also cause offensive pressure as well. Also, E Belt lacks recoil so Roost is unneeded. I prefer a +SpA nature over a positive speed nature, because the only thing I can really think of out speeding with a +Spe nature, is a Jolly Haxorus (which aren't very common anyway) and speed tying other +Spe Hydreigon, however relying on a speed tie isn't a very good idea anyway. The one key thing that I can see why running a +Spe nature would be more beneficial, is so you can outpace +Atk DD Salamence. Although it makes more since to run a +Atk nature on a Mence, I've seen so many +Spe DD Salamence out there that it would out speed you anyway.

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This is the same set I run. I love it. Although I've been thinking about giving up on STAB dark pulse for U-turn. Any other thoughts on this, or I am better off with a scarf set of U-turn?

This is the same set I run. I love it. Although I've been thinking about giving up on STAB dark pulse for U-turn. Any other thoughts on this, or I am better off with a scarf set of U-turn?

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It just depends on what your team needs Hydreigon to do. U-Turn on a non scarf set is great for bluffing a scarf similar to Genesect's bluffing strategy, however unless it's running a +Spe nature then bluffing will be quite a challenge due to it's lack of speed. Although, on a scarf set it's usually preferred over Dark Pulse for the switch advantages, and scouting out of sticky situations. For E-Belt and LO sets you're better off just bluffing a Choice item by switching out after a counter comes in every now and then, until the right opportunity that is. If your team is very weak to Reuniclus and Alakazam, then Dark Pulse is a better idea for STAB and power.

I absolutely adore this Pokemon, it's criminally underused. I just wanted to point out that I've found Earth Power to be redundant on the SubRoost set; Dragon Fighting gives perfect coverage except for shedinja anyway. You could argue that earth power is better for heatran, but cmon, tran is basically a free substitute for hydreigon, as it resists fire ground and grass and sub gives you a safety buffer against focus blast misses anyway. Ive used the set extensively and have concluded that the last move should either be roost, flamethrower or surf, depending on whether you're running weatherlass/damaging weather or sun/hail. Superpower is also simply a godsend for hydreigon, but i think i dont need to say anything regarding it; everyone knows what it's for. I also adore specs hydreigon (it has the most powerful draco meteor in ou after all, since latios never runs modest) and is cute in that it can ohko and outspeed all weather starters, allowing you to then change the weather with something like kingdra or heatran. Tailwind also seems like a lot of fun katakiri, will gave to try that out :D

I've been using the Expert Belt set on my sun team and it has working wonders at helping me beat sand teams. T-Tar will always come in after a draco meteor, literally every single time, than unexpectly is destoryed with superpower thus winning the weather war. The scarf/specs bluff is obviously key to this. Also I fell hes a good member to a sun team due to his awesome resistances, including ground, and the buffed fire blast is very nice to abuse. Sun hydreigon is good!

I've been using the Expert Belt set on my sun team and it has working wonders at helping me beat sand teams. T-Tar will always come in after a draco meteor, literally every single time, than unexpectly is destoryed with superpower thus winning the weather war. The scarf/specs bluff is obviously key to this. Also I fell hes a good member to a sun team due to his awesome resistances, including ground, and the buffed fire blast is very nice to abuse. Sun hydreigon is good!

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I've always been thinking of this. Hydreigon seems like an amazing choice for sun teams. Immunity to Ground and resistance to Fire and Water means that it has amazing synergy with the rest of team. It can defeat other weather inducers as you said, and provides super-effective attacks against Ghost and Psychic-types, provided that Hydreigon runs Dark Pulse. A sun-boosted Fire Blast is actually more powerful than a STABed Dark Pulse, and is nothing to scoff at, since it means that Hydreigon now doesn't depend as much of Draco Meteor to crush things. Hydreigon can punch holes on the opponent's team, to help so later on battle, Venusaur can sweep. With Superpower, it can break through Blissey and Tyranitar, as you said, and can get rid of Heatran, an extreme headache for sun teams. The only downside is that you now have an extra weakness to Ice and to Fighting. But these are easy to cover.

Not a lot of opponents think I have Earth Power + Fire Blast (redundant against Steel) ... They help me killing different pokemon, and the element of surprise is always nice :) ... The only downsides are Pink Blobs, Breloom's Mach Punch, and faster Dragon (Garchomp, Salamence, Lati@s)

Like some others in this thread, I use Sub Hydreigon and it's absolutely amazing. I use a bulkier spread with 56 HP/252 Sp. Atk/200 Spd with Dragon Pulse, Flamethrower, Charge Beam, and Substitute on my Sun team and it wrecks everything except the pink blops and Heatran. It's ability to set up a Sub on so many things and OHKO anything that switches in is unparalleled.

On a random note, it's a shame that a Steel/Ghost Pokemon doesn't exist. Otherwise the two would be able to resist every type in the game.

I love using hydreigon. He has an expansive movepool, typing and ability that gives him a lot of switching opportunites and can take on many roles. I can't belive people seem to use pokes like vaporion and infernape over this. I like to use a simple life orb set with jolly nature and dragon pulse/surf/dark pulse/fire blast. It can clean up and eliinate threats, not to mention abuse the sun brought on by my heatran. If I had to say any flaws about him his speed means that other dragons can easily kill him.